Phone contact in Germany
 

Help; Need to know how to contact our granddaughter by cell phone, while in Germany. She is doing a smester abroad that starts in Germany. I am only interested in being able to call locally, not bact to the US. What device do I need to buy? As I don't even own a 'cell phone', forgive me if the question 'boggles the mind'. iris1745/dick

if your granddaughter has a cell phone contract with a german provider, you should purchase a prepaid cell phone from that provider after you arrive in germany. i am not sure about what these phones cost, but they should not be more expensive than some 40 or 50 euros. you may purchase minutes at grocery stores, gas stations. you get your own number, so your granddaugter might call you too.

you should not bring a device from the states unless you are sure that it would work with europe's gsm standard.

I have purchased a basic prepaid phone for less than 20 euro, and they usually come with 5 or 10 euros worth of minutes. Two of the major stores here that have a good selection are Saturn and MediaMarkt. As Holly says, once you have the phone, you can easily purchase more minutes.

If your granddaughter arrives in Germany before you, perhaps she can pick one up and have it ready for you when you get there.

Germany is a beautiful country. Enjoy your visit!

Thanks Mindy and Holly; That's information is a big help. My wife wanted to bring her cell phone, but I thought there was a better way. Will pass on this info to her. When we find out the granddaughter provider, we can purchase after arriving in Germany. Incidently, we had been to Germany before for 3 1/2 weeks, but that was in 1996. Anxiously looking forward to visiting her and the country. iris1745/dick

If your wife's cell phone is North American, then it is doubtful that it would work anyway, unless it is a tri or quad band. NA uses different frequencies than most of the rest of the world.

Just a bit more info...

When you buy your phone, the salesperson will activate it for you. You'll need some ID, so take along your passport. I don't know if you can use your U.S. address, or if you'll need to know your granddaughter's address in Germany.

Also, if you ask, the salesperson will change the phone settings from German to English. That'll make the phone easier to use (unless you speak German).

Mindy; Great info. Thanks

Hi; Another question. My wife read the comments and she thinks that where my granddaughter has T-Mobile as a provider, if we changed our provider to T-Mobile we should be able to make contact with each other in Germany. Does this sound doable? Thanks iris1745/dick

Only if the phone already operates on European frequencies. If you buy it in Europe, then it does. If American, maybe not. Find out the phone frequencies. 900/1800 for Europe and most of the world. 850/1900 for North America, Caribe and some South America.

It's just a phone number, it doesn't matter which company you use to reach it.
However, a German T-Mobile Xtra prepaid, gives you a special rate when dialing those T-moblie cellphone numbers.
It's 5ct per minute, but the other german numbers are expensive at 19ct/min.

Depends what you need.

Hi daveeesl and Logos; Good thoughts. When we are in Tubingen for six days, our only need will be to contact my granddaughter to see her whenever possible. A cell phone seems to be the most convienent way. Thanks iris1745/dick

Saturn (Electronics) in downtown Tübingen will sell you a T-Mobile prepaid phone and SIM for under 20€.

www.saturn.de
Schleifmühleweg 36
72070 Tübingen

Logos; Thanks. I will let my wife, my sister and daughter digest all this information and decide what to do. Thanks again iris1745/dick

it is not a good idea to bring your american device. even if you are a t-mobile customer and your phone supports the gsm 900 standard, high roaming rates would apply for any calls (even incoming) being completed outside america.

as your granddaughter is customer of t-mobile germany, the best way to contact her is purchasing a t-mobile xtra pack, which is not only available at saturn, but at deutsche telekom's (parent of t-mobile) "t-punkt" shops. in tübingen, these shops are located here:

Neckargasse 27,
72070 Tübingen

and

Reutlinger Str. 44,
72072 Tübingen (within kaufland shopping mall).

as logos said, calls to other t-mobile customers are inexpensive. since your granddaughter uses t-mobile too, that would work for you.

But keep in mind, that "xtra packs" almost always are more expensive at the T-mobile shop.